Ernie goes to Frankfort

By MIKE JAMES
The Independent

WORTHINGTON June 11, 2008 11:15 pm

— The Blackhawk came in under the treeline.
No one heard it until it was almost in sight, inches above the runway. As a war machine, sneaking in is part of its primary job, but Wednesday it didn’t need to. Wednesday, the Blackhawk had a special task: to ferry a hero to Frankfort.
Ernie West boarded the helicopter at the Ashland Regional Airport during the morning hours to attend a ceremony awarding him a Medal of Honor Flag, a recognition accorded to service members who have received the nation’s highest award for gallantry in action.
West, 76, of Wurtland suffered multiple wounds in Korea in 1952 while fighting and rescuing his fellow soldiers.
He probably wouldn’t tell you that himself, but it’s all in the original medal citation. Some excerpts: “Pfc. West distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry above and beyond the call of duty ... patrol was ambushed ... numerous casualties ... braved intense fire ... grenades ... shifting his body to shelter the officer ... killed the assailants ... carried the helpless man to safety ... critically wounded ... lost an eye ... returned through withering fire ...to assist the wounded.”
Ask West what he thinks of the award and the adulation, and he’ll tell you he’s honored, of course, but he’s also somewhat perplexed.
“I think I’m an ordinary person,” he said. “I’m equal to everyone and everyone is equal to me.”
He’d prefer it if people would honor servicemembers serving today.
“Not me, I’m a has-been,” West said. “We need to honor our soldiers who are out there now.”
When the helicopter touched down, Staff Sgt. Chris Searcy, the crew chief, stepped out to help some passengers off the craft. There was West, his granddaughter, Bethany Hogsett, and state Rep. Tanya Pullin of South Shore, who was among the speakers at the ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda.
Another crew member handed out West’s awards, filling a cardboard box. Hogsett took the box but faltered, so West insisted on carrying it himself.
Searcy, still wearing his helmet, walked over to a pop machine and West saw him digging into his camouflage uniform for money. He touched Searcy on the shoulder and pulled out some bills. Searcy headed back to the helicopter with a handful of cold soda pops, courtesy of West.
As if escorting a hero didn’t already make his day, he shouted over the roar of the still-spinning rotors, “This is one of the best jobs I’ve had.”
Hogsett is 17 and will be a senior at Cabell-Midland High School this fall. She went with West under a special permission arrangement by the Army. In fact, she asked him to take her along.
“He was afraid for me to go,” she said.
Hogsett knows her grandfather is a hero. She’s heard it a hundred times and accompanied him to a number of other ceremonies, mostly Memorial Day commemoration and the like.
“This was really nice because it was in the Capitol and it was all about him,” Hogsett said.
Like her grandfather, she admits to a slight puzzlement about the plaudits.
“It’s cool, but strange at the same time,” Hogsett said. “To me he’s just Papaw.”
Still, her grandfather is too humble. He never boasts, she said. “But we gloat all the time.”
Searcy returned to the Blackhawk and the engine roared as it turned slowly and creeped back to the runway. It rolled toward takeoff and out of sight. The only sound was a lone cicada struggling to lift itself off the hot tarmac.
MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2652.

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